Sorry there's been so little stuff uploaded recently, I've been working and haven't had time to rip and post. Now I'm unemployed again - not for long I hope! - so I'll try to be a bit more productive for a little bit. Oh - and if you know anyone who's looking for a writer/technical author (that's what I do), point them my way.
First, before I start - you may notice the revised masthead. A couple of weeks ago I emailed Joe Boyd to let him know that I'd 'borrowed' the Witchseason name and to ask whether he minded. I got a very nice message back from him in which he said that basically a) I'd done nothing wrong but b) he still felt very attached to the name and he'd rather I didn't use it - especially for creative work. I have a lot of respect for him, and I think that's an entirely reasonable and understandable response. Even though Witchseason Productions is long gone, it still has an excellent reputation and I don't want to risk that in any way. Unfortunately, it's rather difficult - or even impossible - to change the URL of a blog, so this is going to stay where it is. But I can give credit where credit is due - hence the text at the top.
And if you don't know who Joe Boyd is, you really should. Honest. You should.
SO. Anyway. Today, two albums that I've been meaning to post for yonks ('yonks'? How quaint!).
The first is the album that more or less started a genre... From what I remember, Sean O Riada just put a bunch of Irish musicians together to play the music that he had arranged for the soundtrack for a film 'The Playboy Of The Western World'. The musicians got on so well together, and the arrangements were so interesting, that the musicians decided to form a band, and they called themselves The Chieftains. They went professional in about 1965 I think, and they're still going. For some reason I'm not a massive fan - really no idea why - but I *do* like this album. In a way you could say it's 'Chieftains 0'. Oh - and please don't complain if my spelling is poor, I don't speak Gaelic.
The second is a 'sampler' album, of which there were many in the late 60s and early 70s. The famous ones were for labels like Island (Nice Enough To Eat, You Can All Join In, Bumpers, El Pea), CBS (Rock Machine I Love You, The Rock Machine Turns You On, Fill Your Head With Rock) or Harvest (Picnic - A Breath Of Fresh Air), but there were some pretty good ones for more obscure labels - in this case, Georgio Gomelsky's Marmalade label. I know very little about most of these tracks, but a few comments about the ones I do know about.
If you only know Julie Driscoll as the girl who sang 'Wheels On Fire', you're missing some great music. With Brian Auger she made three excellent albums, and the three tracks here (one Jools solo, one Auge solo, and one together - all from 'Streetnoise') are a pretty good example of what they sound like. You should also check out Jools' first two solo albums - '1969' (rocky, with Blossom Toes) and 'Sunset Glow' (jazzy, credited to Julie Tippetts). If you don't know Blossom Toes, 'Listen To The Silence' is one of the better (not the best) tracks from their second album 'If Only For A Moment', which is pretty damn good proggish heavyish rock. However their first album 'We Are Ever So Clean' is a British psych masterpiece. Chase it down and check it out. And Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman were half of 10CC and both play on each other's tracks here, along with Lol Creme and Eric Stewart.
The Playboy Of The Western World - Sean O Riada (1962)
01 - Tuscheol - Teama, Mo Mhuirnin Ban
02 - Scanraionn Shawn Keogh Roimh Christy Agus Teann As Scaipeadh An Sceil
03 - Christy Ag Eachtrai Do Pegeen Ar Uaigneas A Shoil - Agus Ar Alltacht A Athar
04 - Cailini An Bhaile Chuige ''It's A Man!''
05 - Christy Ag Eachtrai Do Na Cailini Faoi Mar Mharaigh Se A Athar...''Cuire Uait Iadsan'' Adeir Pegeen - 'chrochfaidis Thu!''
06 - Teann Christy Ar Choimu Pegeen
07 - An Torramh
08 - Ceol Teama
09 - Comhchealg Na Baintri Le Shawn Keogh...Tig Old Mahon Isteach
10 - Christy Agus Pegeen...Teann Christy Go Pairc Na Luthcleas I Dteannta Na Gcailini
11 - Ar Phairc Ne Luthchleas...Tig Old Mahon Aris
12 - Ar Phairc Ne Luthchleas
13 - An Rince
14 - Christy Agus Pegeen
15 - An Gaiscioch...''An Marbh Ba Mharbh Gur Beodo Bhi''
UPDATE: Hmm, that'll teach me. Rapidshare deleted my original upload - I guess calling a file 'playboy.zip' is asking for trouble. New download link below (hopefully this one will stay there for more than a couple of hours!).
Download The Playboy Of The Western World
Marmalade 100 Proof (1969)
01 - Let The Sunshine In (Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity)
02 - Kiss Of Confusion (Blossom Toes)
03 - The Journey (Gordon Jackson)
04 - Bitterness Of Death (Ottilie Patterson)
05 - Battersea Rain Dance (Chris Barber)
06 - Tropic Of Capricorn (Brian Auger and The Trinity)
07 - Pete The Poet (John McLaughlin)
08 - A Word About Colour (Julie Driscoll)
09 - Dis-Toi-Bien (Le Lievre)
10 - The Late Mr Late (Graham Gouldham)
11 - To Fly Away (Kevin Godley)
Download Marmalade 100 Proof
